Paxman's pay revealed by BBC salary mole

Paxman's pay revealed by BBC salary mole

Wednesday 19 April 2006 04.30 EDT
First published on Wednesday 19 April 2006 04.30 EDT

Jeremy Paxman has become the latest BBC star to fall victim to the mole who is leaking corporation staff salaries to the tabloid newspapers.

Paxman's pay packet for hosting BBC2's University Challenge quiz is £240,000, the equivalent of £7,741 a show, according to a leak published in the Sun today.

The University Challenge wage is on top of the £800,000 Paxman is believed to earn for presenting Newsnight, bringing his annual BBC salary to more than £1m, if the figures are to be believed.

The exposé comes hot on the heels of leaks about the pay packets of EastEnders stars and Radio 1 DJs, also in Sun stories penned by Julie Moult, and the revelation of Radio 2 presenters' packages in the Daily Mirror yesterday.

This morning a spokeswoman for the BBC said the identity of the mole had still not been discovered and the corporation's investigation into the leaks is continuing as a matter of urgency.

According to yesterday's leaks, BBC Radio 2's highest-paid DJ is the breakfast show host Terry Wogan, with an annual salary of £800,000 but Jonathan Ross gets paid the most per hour of any Radio 2 presenter, earning £56.62 a minute for his three-hour Saturday show, a total of £530,000 a year.

Last week saw the revelation that Radio 1 breakfast DJ Chris Moyles earns £630,000, while the mid-morning host Jo Whiley is cited as earning £250,000.

In March, a number of EastEnders stars' pay packets were disclosed, including Barbara Windsor's and Steve McFadden's £360,000 annual wage.

The string of salary revelations is causing consternation at the BBC. Executives fear they could be forced to deliver big pay rises to disgruntled broadcasters who feel they are underpaid in comparison to their colleagues, while other big names could be poached by commercial rivals who could offer more money.